Imperial Conclave

  The Imperial Conclave was the ceremonial event where the new Emperor would be chosen during the The Terran Empire in the 25th century.    

Origins

During the early days of the Terran Empire, succession was considered to be "hereditary" with the Emperor desingating their own successor. Emperor August Solarin I designated his son, Isaac Solarin as his successor without incident.   The right to name the successor was brought into question after the attempted Imperial Coup by House Hawthorne, which culminated in the defeat of the rebels at the Battle of Dhaka. Emperor August Solarin agreed with the Imperial Council that all future Emperor's after Emperor Isaac would be elected by the Council.   However, after being severely wounded during the palace bombing in 2424, the line of succession was not clear. His oldest son, Prince Alexander, was not considered suitable for the Imperial throne and his second son, Prince Michael, had been killed in action whilst serving as a recon marine.   Emperor Solarin put his daughter, Princess Regina, forward as the new heir. Under a law passed in the Imperial Council in 2406, all future successions would be governed by the vote of a conclave.  

Procedure

The conclave would comprise the membership of the Imperial Council, made up of the governor's of all the worlds of the Empire. Later on, the Imperial Parliament was also granted an additional vote.   When a conclave was called, the "electors" would attend a special ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where they would be "sequestered" and denied all contact with the outside world.   Governor's were free to appoint someone to vote in their stead, but this had to be agreed in advance by the Council and the Keeper's of the Rolls.   The conclave members would then be asked to vote on who they wished to confirm as the new Rex. It is important to note that the word "elected" or "elect" was never used in conjunction with the official ceremony, which was expressely to confirm the new Rex.   The method for voting was unusual. During each "round", all the voting members of the conclave, referred to as "Elector-Peers" would recieve a specially designated piece of slate which had been sprayed with a light coating of dust. This dust was mixed with a chemical which would, under special lighting, glow a specific colour for each round. This would prevent ballots from being doctored or replaced.   Each Elector-peer was given a laser scalpel to add a mark next to their chosen candidate. To win, a candidate would need to receive at least 50% of the votes cast. If two candidates had 50% each or no one got at least 50%, then there would be another ballot.   All slates were handed over to the Keepers of the Rolls who would authenticate the slates and then make the spread of slates visible to all candidates to confirm their authenticity, though this step was often skipped by the Elector-Peers.   Once the ballot was confirmed, the slates were shattered and then melted down   Once a candidate had suficient support to be confirmed, they would be officially named as Rex.

Preferatti

Any member of the Imperial Council could nominate a person as "preferatti", an arcane term that made them their house's chosen candidate to become Rex.   There were few limits on a person who could be a rex but the limitations were:  

• Preferatti had to be human.
• Preferatti had to be able to trace their family back to Earth.
• Preferatti could not be "a declared enemy of the Empire."
• Preferatti could not be a prior Rex

Whilst the Imperial Council tended to name members of their own family as preferatti, technically there was no restriction on naming someone outside of the Great Houses as a preferatti, though this never came up.   Once named a Preferatti, that person was expected to join the imperial Court, if they were not already a member and give a speech to the Imperial Council, as well as answering questions from the council.   By custom, rather than law, preferatti refained from any criticism or negative comments about each other, to differentiate the practise from the "ugly partisan nature of electoral politics."  

Keepers of the Rolls

The Imperial Bureaucracy created a specific role for the practise of the Imperial Conclave. The Keepers of the Rolls were a small, highly trained and almost monastic order of civil servants who were based in Lhassa City until called on to take part in a conclave.   They were sworn to very strict secrecy about the conclave and what had happened and would practise the method of the Conclave in advance of the actual conclave.   They would also ensure that all slates were properly disposed of and that new slates had been prepared in advance.   Membership to the Keepers was very exclusive and nearly all of them had to win an intense competition to win the post, which was well paid and carried a lucrative pension.   Between conclaves, the Keepers of the Rolls were expected to keep up imperial archives and the genealogy of the Great Houses.   Keepers of the Rolls were strictly forbidden from applying for other roles within the Imperial Government and usually subject to close observation by IIS if they left their duties to go to the private sector  

Elevation to Emperor

Once a preferatti had sufficient support, they were officially named as Rex. The Keepers would read a prepared statement that officially transferred all Imperial power to them and the Elector-Peers would be witnessess.   By custom, the Elector-Peers would then swear an oath of loyalty to the new Rex.   The new Rex would have a full coronation later, which was generally held in the capital city of Dhaka.   Four members of the Keepers of the Rolls were always invited to the coronation.

Conclaves

2429

See The 2429 Conclave   With the abdication of Emperor Isaac Solarin & his wife, Empress Ivy Solarin, the first Imperial Conclave took place in 2429 in Dhaka City.   The Imperial Council were given 48 hours to confirm preferatti, with just two named.  

• Princess Reginna Valane
• Lord Joachim Brahms

Lord Brahms, who was considered a moderate and was a former Lord-Chancellor, was seen as the outsider candidate whilst Princess Reginna Valane had the support of the so-called "Conservative" faction in the court.   After three days, Princess Reginna Valane was confirmed to be elevated to the role of Rex by a vote of 13-2.

2459

See The 2459 Conclave After reigning for 30 years Regina Valane announced she would abdicate and call for a conclave in 2459.   She had initially named her daughter, Princess Charlotte Valane as her preferatti. However, a split in the conservative faction between Lord Kotek Grumman's "protecorate" faction and Lord-Chancellor Hayden Tancredo's conservatives saw the Empress change her mind and name her younger daughter, Princess Aurora Valane as her preferatti.   The court Moderates & Liberals got behind Lady Teagan Yardley, who had generally been a voice of opposition to the increasingly hard line and authoratarian views of the likes of Lord Grumman and Lord Tancredo.  

• Princess Aurora Valane
• Lady Teagan Yardley

After just one day, Princess Aurora Valane was elevated to the role of Rex, with a vote of 18-8  

2480

see The 2480 Conclave